wrote in message
oups.com...
I am generally courteous to law enforcement people cuz if they want
they can always find something to cite you for so you might as well get
on their good side. This has worked most of the time for everybody
except the local marine patrol officials who just seem to be ****ed
about life. Fortunately,I never fish (my 9 yr old daughter did two
days ago) so they cannot hassle me about that and never have fishing
gear aboard my sailboat. I also think they tend to stop powerboaters
more as I have never been stopped while on open water.
However, I am building a powerboat (A Tolman Skiff) and I know very
little about power boats. Worse, my daughter now wants to take up
fishing so I may have to do so for awhile. So, although I plan to take
the Power Sqdrn course, I just expect to get hassled. So, how do you
get on their good side (do they have one?) Are my bad experiences with
them just really bad luck or are they generally nasty when they stop
you?

Down here in the Bayport/Hernando Beach area the Florida game and fish
people ahve always been very courteous and professional. I ahv ebeen
checked several times as I came up the Weeki Wachee River and all have been
good experiences.

CG is a differnt story !!! Mix the arrogance of youth with too little
training (IMHO) and too much authority and there are porblems. One time I
was asked if I had a horn and I rlied yes and was told to blow it. It was a
compressor driven airhorn and his head was inches from it. I tried to
suggest he moved but he refused and said blow it. So I did. He probably
recover in 7 to 10 days but m8ight ahve sustained permanent damage.

My motto is be courteous to those in authority and they are usually couteous
in return. Fred